The Sound That Never Sleeps
by E-GzorZ-The-Oddity
Summary: Naruto hasn't been able to sleep since an accident when he was young. He spends his days and nights always on guard, never able relax. Though the kyuubi's powers keep his body healthy without sleep, his mind isn't as fortunate. Naruto is slowly going crazy, but he must alway stay vigilant. NarutoxTemari.
1. Chapter 1

The Sound That Never Sleeps

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Title of this story is subject to change. Probably won't ever finish this story, and it will end up like my other story Purged Color of the Eyes. Difference is hopefully that this one gets far enough to actually reveal the plot.

Well here it goes.

UPDATE 5/30/13: Changed the title of the story, like I thought I would. Also, I edited a couple of things that make more sense in this chapter than in the next. I've also decided on the pairing. Naruto x Temari. To those of you who are disappointed, that's your problem. Also a warning for the future, my story is going to diverge heavily from facts established in the manga. This is due to the fact that 80% of everything after the time skip, at least in my opinion, is awful and feels like a very lame fanfic to me.

Chapter 1

* * *

"He really creeps me out," said Kakashi. "He doesn't look like he ever sleeps and if you even walk within ten feet of him, he'll stare you down."

Sarutobi sighed, "I'll admit, the boy has become a little… disturbing since the _incident_, but you're the best one for the job." The Third Hokage stood up from his desk and walked over to his window. "And besides, I thought you would be happy to teacher your sensei's son"

Kakashi nearly groaned at that thought. He wasn't cut out to be a teacher. Every time his teams failed his exam, it was such a relief. This team was no better. How could he be stuck with these three? Kakashi, trying to weasel his way out of this new team, said, "It's not like he's even passed the exam. Maybe he won't do it his time, and even if he does, I do not think I'm ready for—" He was quickly cut off by the Hokage's glare.

"This is an order, Kakashi. I have the utmost faith that he can do it this time. When he passes, he will be put under your responsibility. I expect you to do your best!" the Hokage commanded. Kakashi could only let out a sigh.

"Hai, Hokage-sama." With those words, Kakashi took his leave from the Hokage's office.

* * *

"GOOD MORNING, SASUKE-KUN!" shouted Ino as she threw open the door to the classroom. Behind her was Sakura…on the hallway floor. However, Ino quickly slammed the door behind herself.

"Can you shut up? He's not even here yet." Shikamaru yawned. The only people in the room were himself, Chouji, and Shino.

"Don't tell me to shut up you lazy bum!" Ino yelled in response as she sat in her seat.

"Troublesome."

"So are you guys… ready for the… graduation exam?" mumbled Chouji as he devoured a bag of chips. However, no one get the chance to answer before the door opened once more. This time, it was Sasuke followed by Kiba and Akamaru.

"GOOD MORNING, SASUKE-KUN!" Ino yelled again, causing a collective groan from the boys.

"Hey, Ino, I think you really knocked Sakura out cold. She's still lying on the floor out there," said Kiba as he made his way to his seat.

"It's what she gets for getting in my way!" Ino pouted. The door opened once again to show Hinata supporting Sakura.

"Thanks, Hinata-san," said Sakura as she rubbed the back of her head. Ino gave a short chuckle and Sakura glared at her.

"No p-problem, Sakura-san," Hinata whispered with a slight stutter. Sakura took her weight off of Hinata and both of them walked to their seats.

The next few minutes passed quickly with the other members of their class coming in. Eventually the clock hit 8 and Iruka walked into the classroom. "Good morning, class."

"Good morning, Iruka-sensei," they all replied in unison.

"I hope you're all ready for your final examination," he glared at all of them, hoping to make them a little bit nervous. "Well let's get start-" suddenly the door slammed open, revealing Naruto Uzumaki. He was wearing black cargo pants and a dark blue t- shirt that also happened to button up. Around his forehead, he wore his goggles. His eyes were dull and they had dark circles around them, which wasn't unusual. However, he was sweating horribly and he was slightly out of breath.

Before he could say anything, "Take your seat, Naruto." The boy nodded and walked to his seat.

"Alright. For the exam, Mizuki-sensei is going to be helping me grade you all. Let us begin."

"All right, Naruto. You're the last one to go. Perform the Bunshin no Jutsu," ordered Iruka.

Naruto swallowed hard. He knew that this technique wasn't his best, but he also knew that there was a possibility of being his test. He had been practicing the technique all night, which left him exhausted. Even after all that training, he still couldn't get it to work one hundred percent of the time. He had also figured that it was probably not a good idea to train until near exhaustion right before he had his test, but hindsight was 20/20.

He stood in front of Iruka and Mizuki. He formed the jutsu's hand seals, but Iruka stopped him. "You're not looking too good, Naruto. Are you sure you want to do this now? You can take a short break to get yourself situated."

"No, I'm fine, Irukia-sensei. I can do it now," affirmed Naruto. He reformed his hand seals and said,"Bunshin no Jutsu." Suddenly there, was a puff of smoke. Naruto did not dare to look. He had his eyes shut tight, waiting to hear their judgement.

"Congratulations, Naruto, you passed," said Iruka. Naruto opened his eyes and blinked, not quite comprehending what had just happened. He looked to his right and saw an exact copy of himself staring back. Blank and expressionless.

"Oh good," was all he could say. He breathed in and then fell to the ground.

"Naruto!" Iruka shouted. The other students in the room began to laugh and make jokes.

"Looks like he couldn't handle making a single clone without passing out!" laughed Kiba. Iruka rushed to Naruto's side. He quickly checked his vitals and did a quick assessment.

"I'm taking him to the hospital. He's suffering from chakra exhaustion," Iruka said as he picked Naruto up. Within a second, Iruka was out of the room, quickly making his way to the hospital.

* * *

The sun began to set and Naruto had yet to wake up. The doctors and nurses hooked him up to several monitors. Iruka waited by his side as long as he could, but he eventually went back home once visiting hours were over.

The moon was at its peak in the sky when Naruto opened his eyes. He quickly jerked up, ripping off several monitor pads. His eyes went wide and he frantically looked around, trying to figure out what had happened. He could barely see anything. He barreled out of the bed, ripping of the monitors and throwing off the blankets. A few seconds later, he was in the corner of the room holding a lamp. He held it out from his body, trying to threaten whatever was out there with it.

As he waved the lamp around, his eyes darted around the dark room, trying to figure out where he was. It took a few seconds for his eyes to adjust to the darkness of the room. Realizing he was in the hospital, he slowly put the lamp down on the floor. The last thing that he remembered was passing the exam and being exhausted from training. 'I must have passed out,' he thought. He saw his clothes on a small table in the opposite corner of the room. He threw off his gown. His body was exposed to the world, but luckily he still had on his underwear. He had scars covering his mid section. The majority of them were burn scars, but there were a few obvious cut scars.

He stood in the corner while he put on his clothes, constantly keeping an eye on the door. His button up t-shirt allowed him to not have to pull anything over his face. It was why he wore them.

"You really shouldn't try sneaking out," a void came from nowhere. Naruto ducked and pulled a kunai out from his belt. "Still as jumpy as ever, Naruto-kun." Naruto looked over to see the Hokage sitting on the window-sill.

Naruto stood up straight and put his kunai back into his pouch. "Aren't old people supposed to go to bed early?" he said as he stared the Hokage down.

The Hokage snorted, "No need to get ornery. I didn't mean to scare you." Naruto just continued to stare. His eyes dull, but unwavering. "You really should take better care of yourself. Maybe get some sleep?" Sarutobi tapped underneath his eye with his finger. He was talking about the bags under his eyes.

It was Naruto's turn to snort. "I don't need to sleep. I can't sleep. Of all people, you should know that."

Sarutobi sighed, "You may not physically need the sleep, but your mind needs the rest."

"I'm fine. Thanks for your concern," he said blankly. Naruto walked over to the door and opened it.

"Catch," warned the Hokage as he threw a small bundle to Naruto. However, with his back turned he couldn't see what was coming. He rolled into the hallway and got into his crouched position once bundle landed in front of him with a metal 'tink'. He picked it up, knowing fully what it was he held in his hands.

"I really am glad you're alright, Naruto-kun," Sarutobo assured.

"Thanks," he muttered as he shut the door.

"Boar," the Hokage called out. Suddenly, an ANBU member with a boar mask appeared in the room. "Follow him and make sure he's fine."

"Hai, Hokage-sama."

After making his way out of the hospital, Naruto headed to the Hokage monument. It was a short walk, but he was constantly checking his surroundings. Once he made it to the monument, he quickly found the nearest entrance to the emergency bunkers. The tunnels in the bunker were complex. If he didn't know where he was going, he would have easily gotten lost. However, he knew his way like the back of his hand. In a couple minutes, he had reached his destination. He was home.

However, home was a very broad term for him. He changed homes as often as he could, and the only real things he kept there were his clothes, equipment, food, and books. No furniture, no bed, no personal possessions, nothing to keep him there. He wanted to be able to move as quickly as possible when the time came.

The only important thing that he kept there were the few books that he had checked out from the library. He had made it a habit to read whenever he wasn't training. There weren't any specific topics that he was interested in, he just thought it would be a good idea to have as much general knowledge as possible. He couldn't know what might save his life one day in the field.

He changed into a new set of clothes. After changing, he pulled out the bundle the Hokage gave him. He undid the bundle. After a few seconds, he looked straight ahead. No longer was he wearing his goggles. Sitting atop his forehead was his new forehead protector.

He was a ninja of Konoha.

* * *

AN: Well that's what I have written so far. I know. It's short, but I will try to continue ASAP. Somehow this is one of the first things that I actually like writing for. The coming up with the story part is my favorite part, and I usually don't like writing all that much, but this was actually not horrible for me. Yay?

Oh well. I have this story planned up until the chuunin exams, which I hope to actually reach. That will be an achievement.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Team Seven.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

AN: Someone should totally leave me a review. I haven't gotten one for this story yet, which makes me very sad. Well, I do have one, though I wouldn't really count it. It's just three different emoticons. What does that mean? If you're going to leave a review, at least use words.

UPDATED 5/31: I changed a couple of things. Nothing incredibly big. Apparently I had made it seem like Sakura hated Naruto, which wasn't my intention. I also changed a scene in the cave because a reviewer brought it to my attention that his reaction was OOC for what I had established, and I agreed. Also, I'm looking for a Beta. If anyone is interested, send me a message and not through a review.

* * *

Three days had passed in the blink of an eye. This new day brought what could be considered one of the most important moments in a shinobi's career: team assignments.

Naruto just sat in the corner, as he always did. He wanted this whole process to hurry up so they could start training. 'I wonder who I'm going to get,' he thought to himself. The latest team assigned was no surprise. The classic Ino-Shika-Cho combination.

"Why am I stuck with these two losers?!" Ino groaned. She wanted to be with Sasuke-kun, not a lazy bum and his overweight sidekick. She looked over to Sasuke and sighed. She could see Sakura looking at her, trying not to laugh.

The Ino-Shika-Cho team left with sensei, leaving behind only the six remaining genin.

"Team 8 will be Shino Aburame, Hinata Hyuuga, and Kiba Inuzuka. Your jounin sensei will be Kurenai Yuuhi," announced Iruka. Hinata had a sad look her face, which she quickly changed. She glanced over to Naruto, who was two seats away from her, and then back to her new sensei.

"Let's get on our way," commanded Kurenai as she walked out the door. Her three new students quickly followed her.

"Wait a second. Does that mean I'm on a team with Sasuke-kun?!" Sakura speculated.

Iruka sighed, "Yes, Sakura. Team 7 is Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha, and Naruto Uzumaki." Sakura almost couldn't keep her excitement to herself.

"Isn't this great Sasuke-kun! We're on the same team," she beamed. He only replied with a quiet grunt, trying to ignore her as much as possible.

"Where's our sensei?" inquired Naruto.

Iruka responded, "He's running a little late, so you'll wait here for him. I have some paperwork I need to finish, so I will see you later. Good luck with your new sensei." Then Iruka left the room.

'I'm so happy! I got Sasuke-kun. I don't even care that I'm stuck with the dead last," Sakura thought to herself.

The three of them waited in the classroom for their jounin sensei. Sakura was constantly trying to start a conversation with Sasuke, but he never responded. Sasuke and Naruto just sat in silence. Though, Naruto was a bit more on edge. His eyes never left the door.

It wasn't until three hours later that their sensei finally showed up.

Kakashi walked in through the door way with his book in his face. He looked up and remarked, "Oh good, you're still here. Let's get started. Meet me on the roof." He then walked out the door

"That… jerk!" Sakura shouted, barely holding back her rage. "He makes us wait here for three hours, and doesn't even bother to apologize? Who does that?!" Naruto nodded in agreement, but refrained from telling her that their new sensei wasn't that far away and probably heard that.

The three genin went up to the roof to find Kakashi leaning on the ledging. "Come, take a seat. We'll start with introductions. Name, likes, dislikes, dream, and hobbies."

"Why don't you go first, sensei?" proposed Sakura in a polite, yet somewhat forced, tone. She wasn't too happy with him.

"Alright then. My name is Kakashi Hatake. I have no intentions of telling you my likes or dislikes. My dream… ," he paused, "I have a few hobbies."

They all wanted to smack their heads. The only thing he said was his name. "Your turn," he ended, pointing at Sakura.

"My name is Sakura Haruno. I like…" she paused and glanced over at Sasuke. Her face reddened. "I dislike... weird things." This time she looked at Naruto. "My dream is…," she looked at Sasuke again. "My hobbies are studying, learning new things, and..." She looked at Sasuke once agian.

It took all of Naruto's effort not to groan. He was going to be stuck on a team with her? He knew that she didn't like him, but no one had ever been that direct about it. They usually just ignored him and avoid him. Though it wasn't like she would be able to avoid him in the future.

"Mr. Angsty Pants, you're up," announced Kakashi. Sasuke was getting annoyed by Sakura's constant attention. He shot her a glare, which she didn't see.

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I hate a lot of things, and I don't particularly like anything. What I have is not a dream, because I will make it a reality. I'm going to restore my clan, and kill a certain someone," announced Sasuke. Sakura was practically falling all over him now, while Kakashi had to keep himself from laughing. 'So much angst,' thought Kakashi.

"Last but not least," said Kakashi as he pointed at Naruto.

Naruto began to speak, in a quiet voice, "My name is Naruto Uzumaki. I like books and ramen," he paused, "I dislike sleeping and pain. My dream is… something that doesn't need to be shared. My hobbies are training, reading, and… watching people?" Naruto ended in an unsure tone. Does that count as a hobby? He wasn't sure.

"Well that's…interesting?" said Kakashi. He didn't have much of a response to that. Watching people? It wasn't at all surprising, but he didn't expect Naruto to readily admit it. He was always watching people. The moment you came into his eyesight, his eyes would never leave you.

"So first thing is first," announced Kakashi, "We're going to have a little test. Fail it, you go back to the academy until the next graduation. Pass it, we're a team."

"What?!" shrieked Sakura, "What do you mean go back to the academy?!" Sakura's blood was boiling. Sasuke was furious as well, though he managed to hide it better. The only sign of his anger was the death glare he was giving Kakashi.

Naruto just stood there. Staring at him. Kakashi felt a small chill run up his spine. There was no killing intent, just his normal stare. 'I… don't know if I can deal with that all the time,' thought Kakashi.

"That's right. Tomorrow at seven in the morning, be at Training Ground 9. Also, don't eat breakfast. You'll only throw it up," explained Kakashi, "See ya." He disappeared in a whirl of leaves.

Sakura just stared at the spot where Kakashi once was. Her eye was twitching, her fists were clenched, and she was grinding her teeth.

"I think he was lying. I'm not sure about what, but I'm pretty sure he was lying," admitted Naruto as he moved to leave. He jumped off the roof to the ground below. He kept his eyes on them until he dropped below their sight.

"Can you believe that freak, Sasuke?!" raged Sakura, "Why would our sensei lie to us about something like that? He's a moron."

"Unh." he replied, and then took his leave.

* * *

It wasn't long before Naruto had reached home. That was th great part about living in the Hokage Monument. It was practically right beside the academy. That was of the reasons that he chose it the last time he moved, which wasn't that long ago.

Naruto made it a habit to move at least every month. He hated staying in one place for too long. He did his best to avoid living in the same place for over a week. Whether it be an abandoned building, a clearing in a forest, or in a blocked off alleyway, he did whatever he could to find new lodgings on a regular basis.

He didn't mind moving around so much. Staying in the same place made him an easier target. If there was anything Naruto didn't want to be, it was an easy target.

Today was the day of his latest move. He had already been in the emergency tunnels for five weeks now, so he was long overdue for a movie. He gathered up his clothes, food and equipment. It didn't even take five minutes. He only had a couple sets of clothes, his food rations were running low, and he carried most of his equipment with him anyways. Everything that he owned fit in his backpack.

Naruto took one good look around the place he had called home for the past few weeks. 'Maybe I'll come back here in a couple of months,' he thought. He wasn't against reusing his 'homes'. There were only so many spots that he could find within the village.

It was nearly dinner time, and his stomach began to growl. 'I didn't eat lunch because of that lazy sensei.' Since he was nearly out of food anyways, he decided to treat himself to some Ichiraku ramen. He took the back roads an alleyways until he made it to the stand.

It was Ayame who saw Naruto approaching the stand. "Hey, Naruto-kun. What can I get you?" asked the girl. The first thing that she noticed about him was his backpack. "Moving day again, Naruto-kun?"

"Hai," was his only response to that. "I'll have a miso ramen to go, Ayame-san." He only made eye contact for a few seconds before he started to look over his shoulders. As he looked around, sunlight glinted off of his headband.

"Oh, congratulations, Naruto-kun!" exclaimed Ayame when she saw his new headgear.

"Thanks," was his only reply. "I'm going to take a walk around the block."

Ayame sighed, "Alright, Naruto-kun. I'll get you ramen ready as soon as possible, but dad won't be back for a couple of minutes."

"It's no problem. Take your time," proclaimed Naruto as he started his walk. Naruto went around the area three times before his ramen was ready. With each pass, he had taken a different route.

"Here you go, Naruto-kun. I made you an extra bowl as a congratulation for graduating the academy," announced Teuchi.

Naruto thanked the two of them and left the stand with his ramen in hand. He walked over to the forested area at the edge of the village. He walked through the forests and eventually found what he was looking for: a small waterfall.

The waterfall emerged from the center of the cliff, which was part of the same mountain as the Hokage Monument. However, he wasn't interested in where the water was coming from. He had two pieces of business at this place. The water and what was behind it.

He came to this place several times a week to wash his clothes at the base of the waterfall, but it wasn't until a few days ago that he discovered a secret about the waterfall.

Naruto had been washing his clothes like normal, when he heard voices. He had not been used to people being around when he washed his clothes. In a moment of panic, he hid as best as he could, which meant going into the water. In the water, he realized he wouldn't be able to hold his breath forever, so he worked his way behind the waterfall. Naruto had hoped that he would be able to find a hiding spot behind the waterfall, but what he found was far more interesting.

What he found behind the waterfall was a small cave. At first, he thought it would be a nice hideout, but he wasn't so sure once he realized that almost everything was covered in the mist spray from the waterfall. However, the cave was larger than he had expected. The farther back he went, the drier it got, which meant it was a decent spot for making a hideout. However, he didn't have anything to light his way, so he decided to come back later.

Today was the first time he had returned to the cave. The sun was beginning to set, so he decided he should explore the cave as soon as possible. He carefully edged his way past the waterfall and into the cave's entrance.

Once inside, he took off his back pack. He pulled out the candle that he used to read at night, but he quickly realized that may have been a mistake when some water splashed onto the candle. He put his backpack on and quickly moved farther back into the cave and did his best to dry off the candle.

It only took Naruto a few attempts to successfully light the candle. He took a kunai from his pouch and began to make his way down into the cave. He quickly realized the cave was segmented into at least two areas. The first area was the entrance, which was covered in the spray of the waterfall. The next area was back behind two boulders that protected the rest of the cave from the spray of the falls.

Naruto journeyed back behind the two boulders to find a decent amount of space. It wasn't a giant cave, but it was enough for at least a couple of people to live in.

He walked around this new area to get a good feeling for it. The front had no noticeable ledges, but the back of the cave was far more contorted. As he got closer to the back, he realized something he couldn't see from the front of the cave. There was a slight, cyan-colored glow coming from the back.

Intrigued, Naruto moved to find out its source, which led him to a small, narrow opening in the back of the cave. 'I'm not sure if i can fit in there," he said to himself. He took off his backpack and took a brief glimpse to the back of him, making sure that no one was behind him. The glow was bright enough for him to see in the cave, so he set his candle down with his backpack, forgetting to extinguish the flame, and began to edge his way into the entrance

It didn't take him long to go find the source of the glow. When he exited the narrow passage, he came to a large cavern, nearly twice the size of what he had been in before. Completely covering the ceiling was a strange substance, which was what had been giving off the bluish-green glow.

Unlike the other room, this one had a very short ceiling and the floor was covered in moss. 'What is that?' he asked himself. He was determined to find out.

Naruto reached up the glowing substance and touched it. Suddenly, he felt something move. He yanked his hand back, but it was too late. He didn't have time to react before an overwhelming force shot into him, slamming him into the ground. The back of his head smacked hard into the moss and Naruto blacked out.

* * *

When Naruto came to, he began to panic. In an instant his palms were sweaty and his heart was beating like a drum. He jolted up from the floor, and on instinct, he pulled his kunai from his pouch. Where was he? It was then that he noticed the turquoise glow and the moss beneath him. The last thing that he remembered was touching the glowing substance on the ceiling and being slammed into the ground. He ran the situation over in his head, trying to figure out what had happened. 'It has something to do with whatever's on the ceiling,' he thought.

It was then that he realized how much his head was pounding. He made a move to the exit, but stumbled and dropped his kunai. It didn't make a sound.

Naruto didn't have time to dwell on it though. He had to get out of this part of the cavern as fast as possible. He didn't want to get hit by whatever had caused him to pass out again. He picked up the kunai and hurried back to the exit and edged his way back to through the corridor.

Once he reached the other side, he found his candle was still on fire, though it was nearing the end of its wick. He pulled his back up candle out of his bag, lit it, put his bag back on, and started to move towards the entrance.

However, the moment Naruto started to move, he heard something. Instinctively, he smothered the candle's flame and clung to the walls. He did his best to listen to what was going on.

"This is the perfect spot to hide it. I just need to leave it here and go out with the patrol groups that are looking for Naruto," proclaimed a voice. He recognized it as a second. Did he say patrol groups were looking for _him_? It was only a minute before he heard Mizuki exit through the waterfall.

Naruto relit his candle and went to the entrance of the cave. There he found a very large scroll. 'It must be important,' he thought. Naruto wasn't sure what to do. It sounded like Mizuki had taken this scroll and framed him.

His initial idea was to take it to the Hokage, but he quickly decided against it. If people had thought he had stolen this scroll and were looking for him, it would probably be a bad idea to leave the cave with it.

So he decided on the only sensible course of action he could take: look at the scroll. He did a quick job of opening up the scroll and looking inside. The first thing he came to said, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."

"It's a ninjutsu scroll," he said in realization. A large grin appeared on the young man's face.

* * *

"WHERE THE HELL IS IT?!" yelled Mizuki. He came back to find the scroll missing. He was angry. It had taken months of planning to get his hands on that scroll, and even then his plan hadn't went perfectly.

His first mistake was the assumption that Naruto would fail the exam. He hadn't expected that, which meant he was forced to steal the scroll by himself, but he hadn't expected this part to go so wrong.

He heard a shuffling in the back of the cave. Pulling out a kunai, he went to investigate. He passed between the two large boulders to find that the cave was being lit by a candle.

"Oh, Mizuki-sensei," said Naruto in a long drawn out voice. It was now that Mizuki saw him. He was holding the scroll!

"Naruto, I suggest if you don't want to get hurt, you better give me that scroll right now," snarled Mizuki.

"Nuh uh. You'll have to catch me Mizuki-sensei!" yelled Naruto as he barreled into the back of the cave.

Mizuki charged after him. He saw Naruto duck into a small chasm in the cave that was emitting a strange eery glow, but he didn't hesitate to follow. When he found Naruto in the room, he realized that something was wrong. Why had he lead him back here? What was this glow?

"What's your game-" he stopped. Why couldn't he hear himself? Naruto just grinned. Naruto tossed the scroll to him. Mizuki moved to catch it, but it erupted in a cloud of smoke. Instead of the scroll, there was now a second Naruto. The second Naruto reached up to the ceiling and scraped his hand against the glowing substance.

Immediately, the two Narutos in the room erupted in smoke and an overwhelming force forced Mizuki into the moss-laden ground. Not only did this knock him out, he also cracked his skull on the moss rock.

Back in the lite area of the cave, Naruto chuckled. Mizuki fell for his trap so easily. He followed his two clones, one of which he disguised as the scroll, and then the clones triggered the trap. It took Naruto a second to realized the significance of this. He knew exactly what happened in the glowing chamber. Did he gain the clones memories? There was no time to dwell on it, so he filed it under things to find out.

Naruto created two more clones to fetch Mizuki out of the glowing chamber. They pulled him through the passageway and tied him up in the lit cavern.

It was time to go tell the Hokage

* * *

After exiting the cave and putting a decent amount of distance between it and him, Naruto was quickly found by Kakashi, who took him and his clones straight to the Hokage. Naruto explained what happened with Mizuki, making sure to leave out all mention of the specifics of the cave and the glowing substance.

Luckily for him, the Hokage believed his story. He had gotten reports from one of the failed academy students that Mizuki had tried to convince him to steal the scroll.

"Thank you for your service tonight, Naruto-kun," said Sarutobi. "Perhaps you should go get some rest for Kakashi's test tomorrow."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama, but we both know perfectly well that I'm not going to sleep," declared Naruto. He bowed to the Hokage and left his office.

"Tomorrow's going to be interesting," said Naruto as he thought of his new jutsu.

He took his backpack to the training ground where he was schedule to meet his team and opened up a book. He began reading under the moonlight, waiting for what tomorrow might bring.

* * *

AN: Man that felt like it took forever. It was also nearly twice as long as the first chapter. I hoped you liked the change to how Naruto learns Kage Bunshin. Look forward to seeing more of the cave and mysterious glowing substance, because its going to come back …. Or not. Would I really introduce such a complicated plot device for taking care of Mizuki? Maybe. I'm not a clever man.

Please review!


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